Monday, April 15, 2024
Monday Night at the Movies
Vittorio De Sica, The Bicycle Thieves, 1948.
Saints, Feast, Family
- Traditions passed down with Cooking, Crafting, & Caring -
Book of Job
Introduction[1]
Ever notice that the guy
in front of you always gets the last apple fritter at Starbucks? On a Monday
morning? When you skipped dinner the night before? And why does the subway
train always leave just as you get through the turnstile? Does it know that
you're already running late and it just wants to spite you? Why do you always
get stuck in the middle seat on planes, no matter how far in advance you book?
And why does the lady next to you always forget to wear deodorant that day?
And, why oh why didn't you take the blue pill? The Book of Job deals
with these exact issues. Well, not these exact issues, but the
millennia-ago versions. If you think about it, these questions really get to
the heart of most religious thought. If you believe in a righteous force that
governs the universe, then why isn't activity on earth righteous? And didn't
God say that the righteous would be rewarded and the wicked punished with fire?
So why didn't you get your stinkin' apple fritter? Job is a nice guy who's been
doing pretty well for himself out on the ranch—he's got a wife, some kids, and
enough sheep to last him a lifetime. Then, suddenly, he loses it all. Does he
whine and complain? No. He takes it one step further: he calls out God for
letting all this misery happen to a righteous man. Yes, that's right—he calls
God's bluff. We know you're ready to read it, so go ahead. And the next time
you're asking "why me?" just remember—Job was there first.
Why Should I Care?
Did you know that the
Andromeda Galaxy is eventually going to collide with the Milky Way? Pretty
nuts. How do we know this? Um, it's obvious: humans know everything. We mean,
really. If we know about things that are 2.5 million light years away, there can't
be anything we don't know…right? Wrong. Job learns that he can't ask the
universe for justice because he doesn't know how the universe works. And as
much as we know about the mechanics of the world millennia after Job's time, we
still have questions galore. Whether you're a priest or a scientist—or
both—you'll agree: we can't know everything. Thanks, Job.
Taxes can sometimes make us feel like job
APRIL 15 Monday of the Third Week of Easter
TAX DAY
In the land of Uz there was a blameless and upright
man named Job, who FEARED God and
avoided evil.
Can a man be blameless and upright
and yet not be filled with self-pride?
Job teaches us
that we need to be all in with God.
Four
Lessons of Job[2]
- Believe with all your heart in the
absolute sovereignty of God. Pray that God would give you that conviction.
- Believe with all your heart that
everything he does is right and good. Pray that God will give you that
assurance.
- Repent of all the times you have
questioned God or found fault with him in the way he has treated you. Pray
that God would humble you to see these murmurings as sinful.
- Be satisfied with the holy will of God
and do not murmur.
Tax Day (Taxes Due)[3]
Tax Day marks the last day to file
income taxes in the United States. The history of US Income Tax dates
back to the Civil War and the Revenue Act of 1861. This tax was imposed
to help pay the costs of the war. After several repeals, new taxes, and
subsequent repeals, the 16th Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified and
went into law in 1913. This established the right of Congress to impose a
Federal Income tax. The Income Tax remains the primary way that the US
Government finances itself. To ensure that all monies due for the prior year
are paid, a Tax Day was created. All US taxpayers are required to file taxes
based on prior year’s earnings by this date. Traditionally this date has
been on April 15 of each year. If this day falls on a weekend, the due
date is extended to the following Monday. This date is also impacted by
the Emancipation Day Holiday in Washington DC.
Tax Day (Taxes Due) Facts &
Quotes
.
·
In
1913, the original US income tax rates were 1% for incomes over $3,000; 6% for
incomes over $500,000.
·
During
World War I, around 1918, the highest income tax rate was over 77%.
·
The
power of taxing people and their property is essential to the very existence of
government. - James Madison, U.S. President
·
A
tax loophole is something that benefits the other guy. If it benefits
you, it is tax reform. - Russell B. Long, U.S. Senator
Tax Day (Taxes Due) Top Events and
Things to Do
·
Be
sure to mail your Tax Return before the midnight of the designated Tax Day.
·
File
for an extension before midnight, if needed.
·
Visit
Office Depot and shred your old documents for Free.
·
Take
advantage of Tax Day Freebies at local restaurants.
·
Watch
a movie that deals with taxes and the consequences of unpaid taxes. Our
picks: Stranger Than Fiction (2006), Catch Me If You Can (2012), The
Firm (1993), The Mating Game (1959)
·
Wine
about your Taxes
Jesus & Taxes?[4]
1. Criminal Charges
What charges were made against Jesus the Christ?
"They began to
accuse him, saying, "We found this man perverting the nation, forbidding
paying taxes to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king." -
Luke 23:2
Depending on which Bible translation you read, there were
two or three charges made against Jesus.
The tax trial of
Jesus•
Charge 1:
"perverting the nation" pervert: to turn upside down, overturn,
overthrow. Source: LawyerIntl.com
Charge 2:
"forbidding paying taxes to Caesar" forbid: to command [someone] not
to. Source: OneLook Dictionary
Charge 3:
"saying that he himself is Christ, a king."
·
Christ: messiah, the
expected king and deliverer. Source: Merriam-Webster
·
Christ: The Anointed;
Savior of the World; Source: Webster's 1828 Dictionary
·
King of the Jews?
During trial, Pilate, the judge, asked Jesus "Are you king of the
Jews?"
·
Jesus was a tax
protester. Jesus replied, "My kingdom is not of this world." - John
18:36
So, is there any evidence for charges of a tax crime?
Was Jesus really a tax protester ... perverting the nation
by leading a tax rebellion?
Tax fact: Jesus had a trial for tax crimes ... where he was
charged with "perverting" or "subverting the nation", and
"forbidding paying taxes".
HOW DO WE EXPLAIN Jesus’s death?
The answer according to Bill O’Reilly is simple:
big-government Jews and Roman taxes.[5]
Catechism
of the Catholic Church
PART FOUR: CHRISTIAN PRAYER
SECTION ONE-PRAYER IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
CHAPTER ONE-THE REVELATION OF PRAYER - THE
UNIVERSAL CALL TO PRAYER
Article 2-IN THE FULLNESS OF TIME
2598 The drama of prayer is
fully revealed to us in the Word who became flesh and dwells among us. To seek
to understand his prayer through what his witnesses proclaim to us in the
Gospel is to approach the holy Lord Jesus as Moses approached the burning bush:
first to contemplate him in prayer, then to hear how he teaches us to pray, in
order to know how he hears our prayer.
Jesus prays.
2599 The Son of God who became
Son of the Virgin learned to pray in his human heart. He learns to pray from
his mother, who kept all the great things the Almighty had done and treasured
them in her heart. He learns to pray in the words and rhythms of the
prayer of his people, in the synagogue at Nazareth and the Temple at Jerusalem.
But his prayer springs from an otherwise secret source, as he intimates at the
age of twelve: "I must be in my Father's house." Here the
newness of prayer in the fullness of time begins to be revealed: his filial
prayer, which the Father awaits from his children, is finally going to be lived
out by the only Son in his humanity, with and for men.
2600 The Gospel according to
St. Luke emphasizes the action of the Holy Spirit and the meaning of prayer in
Christ's ministry. Jesus prays before the decisive moments of his mission:
before his Father's witness to him during his baptism and Transfiguration, and
before his own fulfillment of the Father's plan of love by his Passion. He
also prays before the decisive moments involving the mission of his apostles:
at his election and call of the Twelve, before Peter's confession of him as
"the Christ of God," and again that the faith of the chief of the
Apostles may not fail when tempted. Jesus' prayer before the events of
salvation that the Father has asked him to fulfill is a humble and trusting
commitment of his human will to the loving will of the Father.
2601 "He was praying in a
certain place and when he had ceased, one of his disciples said to him, 'Lord,
teach us to pray."' In seeing the Master at prayer the disciple of
Christ also wants to pray. By contemplating and hearing the Son, the master of
prayer, the children learn to pray to the Father.
2602 Jesus often draws apart to
pray in solitude, on a mountain, preferably at night. He includes all men
in his prayer, for he has taken on humanity in his incarnation, and he offers
them to the Father when he offers himself. Jesus, the Word who has become
flesh, shares by his human prayer in all that "his brethren"
experience; he sympathizes with their weaknesses in order to free them. It
was for this that the Father sent him. His words and works are the visible
manifestation of his prayer in secret.
2603 The evangelists have
preserved two more explicit prayers offered by Christ during his public
ministry. Each begins with thanksgiving. In the first, Jesus confesses the
Father, acknowledges, and blesses him because he has hidden the mysteries of
the Kingdom from those who think themselves learned and has revealed them to
infants, the poor of the Beatitudes. His exclamation, "Yes,
Father!" expresses the depth of his heart, his adherence to the Father's
"good pleasure," echoing his mother's Fiat at the time of his
conception and prefiguring what he will say to the Father in his agony. the
whole prayer of Jesus is contained in this loving adherence of his human heart
to the mystery of the will of the Father.
2604 The second prayer, before
the raising of Lazarus, is recorded by St. John. Thanksgiving precedes the
event: "Father, I thank you for having heard me," which implies that
the Father always hears his petitions. Jesus immediately adds: "I know
that you always hear me," which implies that Jesus, on his part,
constantly made such petitions. Jesus' prayer, characterized by thanksgiving,
reveals to us how to ask: before the gift is given, Jesus commits himself to
the One who in giving gives himself. The Giver is more precious than the gift;
he is the "treasure"; in him abides his Son's heart; the gift is
given "as well."
The priestly
prayer of Jesus holds a unique place in the economy of salvation. A
meditation on it will conclude Section One. It reveals the ever present prayer
of our High Priest and, at the same time, contains what he teaches us about our
prayer to our Father, which will be developed in Section Two.
2605 When the hour had come for
him to fulfill the Father's plan of love, Jesus allows a glimpse of the
boundless depth of his filial prayer, not only before he freely delivered
himself up (“Abba . . . not my will, but yours."), but even in his
last words on the Cross, where prayer and the gift of self are but one:
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they
do", "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in
Paradise", "Woman, behold your son" - "Behold your
mother", "I thirst."; "My God, My God, why have
you forsaken me?" "It is finished"; "Father, into
your hands I commit my spirit!" until the "loud cry" as he
expires, giving up his spirit.
2606 All the troubles, for all
time, of humanity enslaved by sin and death, all the petitions and
intercessions of salvation history are summed up in this cry of the incarnate
Word. Here the Father accepts them and, beyond all hope, answers them by raising
his Son. Thus is fulfilled and brought to completion the drama of prayer in the
economy of creation and salvation. the Psalter gives us the key to prayer in
Christ. In the "today" of the Resurrection the Father says: "You
are my Son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations
your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession."
The Letter
to the Hebrews expresses in dramatic terms how the prayer of Jesus accomplished
the victory of salvation: "In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up
prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to
save him from death, and he was heard for his godly fear. Although he was a
Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered, and being made perfect, he
became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him."
Jesus teaches us how to pray
2607 When Jesus prays he is
already teaching us how to pray. His prayer to his Father is the theological
path (the path of faith, hope, and charity) of our prayer to God. But the
Gospel also gives us Jesus' explicit teaching on prayer. Like a wise teacher he
takes hold of us where we are and leads us progressively toward the Father.
Addressing the crowds following him, Jesus builds on what they already know of
prayer from the Old Covenant and opens to them the newness of the coming
Kingdom. Then he reveals this newness to them in parables. Finally, he will
speak openly of the Father and the Holy Spirit to his disciples who will be the
teachers of prayer in his Church.
2608 From the Sermon on the
Mount onwards, Jesus insists on conversion of heart: reconciliation with one's
brother before presenting an offering on the altar, love of enemies, and prayer
for persecutors, prayer to the Father in secret, not heaping up empty phrases,
prayerful forgiveness from the depths of the heart, purity of heart, and
seeking the Kingdom before all else. This filial conversion is entirely
directed to the Father.
2609 Once committed to
conversion, the heart learns to pray in faith. Faith is a filial adherence to
God beyond what we feel and understand. It is possible because the beloved Son
gives us access to the Father. He can ask us to "seek" and to "knock,"
since he himself is the door and the way.
2610 Just as Jesus prays to the
Father and gives thanks before receiving his gifts, so he teaches us filial
boldness: "Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you receive it, and
you will." Such is the power of prayer and of faith that does not
doubt: "all things are possible to him who believes." Jesus is
as saddened by the "lack of faith" of his own neighbors and the
"little faith" of his own disciples as he is struck with
admiration at the great faith of the Roman centurion and the Canaanite woman.
2611 The prayer of faith
consists not only in saying "Lord, Lord," but in disposing the heart
to do the will of the Father. Jesus calls his disciples to bring into
their prayer this concern for cooperating with the divine plan.
2612 In Jesus "the Kingdom
of God is at hand." He calls his hearers to conversion and faith, but
also to watchfulness. In prayer the disciple keeps watch, attentive to Him Who
Is and Him Who Comes, in memory of his first coming in the lowliness of the
flesh, and in the hope of his second coming in glory. In communion with
their Master, the disciples' prayer is a battle; only by keeping watch in
prayer can one avoid falling into temptation.
2613 Three principal parables
on prayer are transmitted to us by St. Luke:
- the first, "the importunate friend," invites us to urgent
prayer: "Knock, and it will be opened to you." To the one who prays
like this, the heavenly Father will "give whatever he needs," and
above all the Holy Spirit who contains all gifts.
- the second, "the importunate widow," is centered on one of the
qualities of prayer: it is necessary to pray always without ceasing and with
the patience of faith. "and yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find
faith on earth?"
- the third parable, "the Pharisee and the tax
collector," concerns the humility of the heart that prays. "God,
be merciful to me a sinner!" the Church continues to make this prayer its
own: Kyrie eleison!
2614 When Jesus openly entrusts
to his disciples the mystery of prayer to the Father, he reveals to them what
their prayer and ours must be, once he has returned to the Father in his
glorified humanity. What is new is to "ask in his name." Faith
in the Son introduces the disciples into the knowledge of the Father, because
Jesus is "the way, and the truth, and the life." Faith bears its
fruit in love: it means keeping the word and the commandments of Jesus, it
means abiding with him in the Father who, in him, so loves us that he abides
with us. In this new covenant the certitude that our petitions will be heard is
founded on the prayer of Jesus.
2615 Even more, what the Father
gives us when our prayer is united with that of Jesus is "another
Counselor, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth." This
new dimension of prayer and of its circumstances is displayed throughout the
farewell discourse. In the Holy Spirit, Christian prayer is a communion of
love with the Father, not only through Christ but also in him: "Hitherto
you have asked nothing in my name; ask, and you will receive, that your joy may
be full."
Jesus hears our prayer
2616 Prayer to Jesus is
answered by him already during his ministry, through signs that anticipate the
power of his death and Resurrection: Jesus hears the prayer of faith, expressed
in words (the leper, Jairus, the Canaanite woman, the good thief) or in
silence (the bearers of the paralytic, the woman with a hemorrhage who touches
his clothes, the tears and ointment of the sinful woman). The urgent
request of the blind men, "Have mercy on us, Son of David" or
"Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" has-been renewed in the
traditional prayer to Jesus known as the Jesus Prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ,
Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!" Healing infirmities or
forgiving sins, Jesus always responds to a prayer offered in faith: "Your
faith has made you well; go in peace."
St.
Augustine wonderfully summarizes the three dimensions of Jesus' prayer:
"He prays for us as our priest, prays in us as our Head, and is prayed to
by us as our God. Therefore let us acknowledge our voice in him and his in
us."
The prayer of the Virgin Mary
2617 Mary's prayer is revealed
to us at the dawning of the fullness of time. Before the incarnation of the Son
of God, and before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, her prayer cooperates in
a unique way with the Father's plan of loving kindness: at the Annunciation,
for Christ's conception; at Pentecost, for the formation of the Church, his
Body. In the faith of his humble handmaid, the Gift of God found the
acceptance he had awaited from the beginning of time. She whom the Almighty
made "full of grace" responds by offering her whole being:
"Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be [done] to me according to
your word." "Fiat": this is Christian prayer: to be wholly
God's, because he is wholly ours.
2618 The Gospel reveals to us
how Mary prays and intercedes in faith. At Cana, the mother of Jesus asks her
son for the needs of a wedding feast; this is the sign of another feast - that
of the wedding of the Lamb where he gives his body and blood at the request of
the Church, his Bride. It is at the hour of the New Covenant, at the foot of
the cross, that Mary is heard as the Woman, the new Eve, the true
"Mother of all the living."
2619 That is why the Canticle
of Mary, The Magnificat (Latin) or Megalynei (byzantine) is the song both
of the Mother of God and of the Church; the song of the Daughter of Zion and of
the new People of God; the song of thanksgiving for the fullness of graces
poured out in the economy of salvation and the song of the "poor"
whose hope is met by the fulfillment of the promises made to our ancestors,
"to Abraham and to his posterity forever."
PRAYERS AND TEACHINGS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
Morning
Offering[6]
O Jesus, through the
Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings
of this day for all the intentions of your Sacred Heart in union with the Holy
Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, for the salvation of souls, the
reparation of sins, the reunion of all Christians, and in particular for the
intentions of the Holy Father this month. Amen.
Christopher’s
Corner
Why is it important to offer Masses for a deceased loved one?
The offering of Masses for the repose of the soul of the faithful departed is linked with our belief in Purgatory. We believe that if a person has died fundamentally believing in God but with venial sins and the hurt caused by sin, then God in His divine love and mercy will first purify the soul. After this purification has been completed, the soul will have the holiness and purity needed to share in the beatific vision in heaven.
Today we are offering a Mass for Joseph Su a deceased relative.
The
Avenues
Kuwait reflects the ideal image of modern architectural design, as it is at the forefront in terms of space and number of visitors in Kuwait and the region. The Avenues includes 12 districts, inspired by both modern and classic engineering styles namely 1st Avenue, 2nd Avenue, Prestige, Grand Avenue, SoKu, The Mall, The Souk, The Arcades, Grand Plaza, Electra, The Forum, and The Gardens.
A world-class architectural masterpiece, The Avenues is the hub for international and local brands, ranging from retail stores and high-end fashion brands to exquisite cuisines and unique entertainment experiences.
The
Avenues covers a gross land area of 360,000 sqm with over 1,100 stores and a
spacious multi-level parking lot with a capacity for 13,000 cars.
Event:
Coachella--April
15-23--Get your music fill at the annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. The annual
2-weekend, 3-day fest kicks off in Indio, CA, with more than 150 performances.
Daily
Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Today's Fast: The Families of St. Joseph
Porters
·
Eat waffles and Pray for the assistance of the Angels
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Make
reparations to the Holy Face
·
30
Days with St. Joseph Day 28
·
Monday: Litany of
Humility
·
Feast
of St. Teresa of Jesus
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